Severe Thunderstorm July 25th/26th 1985

Hal1 · 26-07-2008 12:41am

dsmythy wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1985/0727/Pg001.html

Can't really see the story unless you pay for it but it's there.

Well I suggest copy & paste or at least give us the gist of wtf your on about

maquiladora · 27-07-2008 12:27pm

Even though I was quite young I remember this event well. I can remember my father showing me the lightning through our old living room window, which is now sealed up. Looking at the forked lightning tearing up the night sky almost constantly was stunned but I don't remember feeling frightened. I vaguely remember my mother shouting at my father to take me back away from the window.

Never seen lightning like that in this country since then.

dsmythy · 28-07-2008 7:13pm

Hal1 wrote: »

Well I suggest copy & paste or at least give us the gist of wtf your on about

You can see a small story towards the bottom of the front page about the weather event.

Hal1 · 28-07-2008 7:46pm

dsmythy wrote: »

You can see a small story towards the bottom of the front page about the weather event.

Well I'm not a subscriber of the irish times so can't see the article in question. Maybe you could take a screenshot of an enlarged version of it? thanks.

caz34 · 28-07-2008 8:02pm

I remember a really bad storm but earlier than 85/86 I would guess it was maybe July/August 82 or 83. It started during the night and went on for hours. It could have been localised to north dublin maybe. The pavement outside our house was struck and a watermain burst - in bed with the folks saying decades of the rosary all night. It was discussed in School when we went back after the holidays so it might have been close to back to school time. Does anyone else remember this?

dsmythy · 28-07-2008 8:55pm

Hal1 wrote: »

Well I'm not a subscriber of the irish times so can't see the article in question. Maybe you could take a screenshot of an enlarged version of it? thanks.

Neither am i unfortunately.

Just put it up if anyone happened to be one and wanted a look.

Hal1 · 29-07-2008 12:00am

Hey don't get me wrong dsmythy, I want a look and I am sure others do too. It's just not a good enough report, just 1 headline from that time. We want stats and more details.

Deep Easterly · 30-07-2008 3:01am

Synoptic overview for July 25th/27th 1985: (without frontal analysis; will have more detailed charts down the line when I consult the vaults:P)

And for June 26th/29th 1986:

Snowbie, is it possible to save these images as a slideshow? I attempted this on photobucket but failed. If you could help on this I would be grateful as for one, it would save a lot of space, and two, the synoptical flow of each of the events would be easier analysed. Cheers.

Edit: Not sure why some of the images came out smaller than others, but will ammend this later on when my head is given back to me.

Images courtasy of The European Centre of Medium Range Forecasts

djhaxman · 30-07-2008 3:47pm

Good thread folks. I remember this one well, was 10 and living in Monaghan at the time. It was the first time I'd been awake the whole night, wasn't a chance of sleeping with that racket going on (although my brother who was 7 at the time managed it - never heard a thing :eek: ) The storm seemed to come and go, peaked at 1 am, faded away for a few minutes at around 3, and then came back with a vengeance at around 5, I've yet to see a storm to come close to that one. Florida was close, but didnt last anywhere nearly as long and I'm not long back from Croatia and they get some serious light shows there too.

A once in a lifetime thing that one.

Hal1 · 30-07-2008 4:36pm

Anything is possible in this country if conditions are ripe, but just not easy to predict accurately. These guys have been spot on in the past though

.

nacho libre · 30-07-2008 10:48pm

Damn. Between epic snow and thunderstorm events it seems the Eighties was the time to be around if you were a weather enthusiast. I would like to be able relive something like that - ah i remember the winter of 2008 well... there was two foot of lying snow which took several weeks to melt!

Danno · 30-07-2008 11:08pm

Indeed the eighties were interesting, but I was quite young and can only remember the July 1985 storm as my first weather memory. I do recall that every summer from 1985-1989 was crap with the exception of the first week of April 1988 or 1989 which was pure class for sunshine and heat.
The winter floods of 1989 were awful.
The winter snow of 1987 was mega, being 4ft high and trundeling through 3ft difts was quite a treat!

Deep Easterly · 03-08-2008 1:36am

Here are the charts posted ealier in slideshow format on youtube. Gives a good account of the synoptics leading up to the storms of July 25th/26th 1985. Get to know them, and know them well, because this is what we are looking for in the future!

(well, all us mad one's anyway!!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI84mfQtRVU&fmt=18

Original can be downloaded here:

slideshow...wmv (678.4 KB)

A thousand thanks to Trodgor who organised both the above. Nice one!!

Snowbie or Supercell, the second link there won't work as it needs to be attached (it is a better quality view altogether! Is there any chance you could do this as we haven't foggiest idea how to do it. Thanks.

Hal1 · 03-08-2008 1:50am

Great work guys, the link for the slideshow ain't working Deep Easterly, just taught I'd let you know.

Snowbie · 03-08-2008 1:59am

Deep Easterly wrote: »

Here are the charts posted ealier in slideshow format on youtube. Gives a good account of the synoptics leading up to the storms of July 25th/26th 1986. Get to know them, and know them well, because this is what we are looking for in the future!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI84mfQtRVU&fmt=18

Original can be downloaded here:

slideshow...wmv (678.4 KB)

A thousand thanks to Trodgor who organised both the above. Nice one!!

Good to see you got it working in the end Paddy:)

Trogdor · 03-08-2008 12:43pm

Deep Easterly wrote: »

Here are the charts posted ealier in slideshow format on youtube. Gives a good account of the synoptics leading up to the storms of July 25th/26th 1985. Get to know them, and know them well, because this is what we are looking for in the future! (well, all us mad one's anyway!!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI84mfQtRVU&fmt=18

Original can be downloaded here:

slideshow...wmv (678.4 KB)

A thousand thanks to Trodgor who organised both the above. Nice one!!

Snowbie or Supercell, the second link there won't work as it needs to be attached (it is a better quality view altogether! Is there any chance you could do this as we haven't foggiest idea how to do it. Thanks.

No probs:)

Here you are paddy;)
http://www.brayweather.com/videos/slideshow.wmv

paulhac · 03-08-2008 4:01pm

Thanks Trogdor excellent work!! There was a cold front which came across from the west I think and merged with the low from the south . Are there any charts from the past that would show the front.

ps I used to work in eircom and i have some hair raising stories about that night from customers in the finglas area which I will post here soon.

shamwari · 04-08-2008 8:27pm

I remember fondly both the 85 and 86 storms. The period leading up to the 85 storm was humid and thundery. The week before it happened, I was in the attic replacing some coaxial cable when there was a thunderclap that nearly made me jump through the bedroom ceiling! For the next few days you just knew that the weather was spoiling for a fight and boy did we get one. The afternoon before the storm, I was in a car outside the old Gateaux factory in Finglas. It was warm, muggy and seriously overcast, yet you couldn't make out an individual cloud. There was a massive singular flash of lighning accompanied by and explosion of thunder. No rain, no wind, nothing else giving the game away. This weather system was just clearing its throat. Later that evening, I listened to 2FM (radio2 in those days) and the headline at 11pm was that "a massive thunderstorm was affecting two thirds of the country". What followed was the most unforgettable night (in meteorological terms anyway!!) I can remember. Constant lightning & thunder and hailstones like house bricks. There was massive flooding, no electricity, dead birds and animals. Even the air after the storm smelt weird! The reports on RTE TV news afterwards were poor. Some still pictures of lightning with the sound of canned thunder dubbed on top were the best they could procure by way of evidence of the previous nights events. Charlie Birds footage of dead crows down around Moone (I think) made up for it a little.

The 86 storm kicked off on a Friday morning with the most spectacular lightning and thunder imaginable. Whilst the 85 storm was very violent, prolonged, and intense, this one started out of almost nothing. The morning was humid and misty and the mist obviously hid a growing army of Cumulonimbus. Come 11am, the sky exploded with what seemed like a slightly greater ferocity that the 85 storm. Yet part one of 86 event was over in about 90 minutes after about 3 inches of rain and a bit of hail started drying up. The afternoon was muggy, fairly bright and dry.

Part 2 of the 86 storm got going the following evening (Saturday) as Simple Minds were wrapping up in Croker. There was pink, green and blue lightning - yes I kid you not - and even the spider "crawling" variety. There was little or no rain with it until after midnight. The thunder was very unnerving, and one house in Dolmen Court, near where I lived at the time took a direct hit. My siblings and I all jumped out of bed with the "blast" from that particular strike. The remnants of the chimney stack were in the front garden, and apparenty there was a crack in the chimney breast in one of the bedrooms where the lighning made its path to earth. The occupants had a very lucky escape. This is the one and only time I have been close to a CG strike and it was spectaclar and frighening in equal measure.

I can't remember storms like those 85/86 offerings in this country since for sheer violence or spectacle. I've seem similar in Spain and France whilst on holidays but they didn't match our two home-brewed offerings. They were truly unforgettable and even today, they are unmatched by anything since.

irish_bob · 06-08-2008 9:40pm

Danno wrote: »

Indeed the eighties were interesting, but I was quite young and can only remember the July 1985 storm as my first weather memory. I do recall that every summer from 1985-1989 was crap with the exception of the first week of April 1988 or 1989 which was pure class for sunshine and heat.
The winter floods of 1989 were awful.
The winter snow of 1987 was mega, being 4ft high and trundeling through 3ft difts was quite a treat!

i remember 89 being a fantastic summer , not as good as the summer of 95 overall but a few days in the summer of 89 were warmer than anything in 95 , i was only 6 in 1983 but i think i remember (those 3 days as the older generation refer to them ) a particulary sweltering period

anyway the storm of 85 and 86 , the one in 85 lasted longer but i remember the storm of 86 being incredibly violent also where i live , the phone in one of my neighbours ( live in the country ) house was mounted on the wall and blown to smithereens or so the legend goes
i was often told about a storm years ago where 2 horses who lived in a field close to my house were incinerated , all you could see was the marks in the field from there hooves

i dont remember a storm from 1990 but i do remember one from around august of 91 , along with my parents i came across a traffice accident involving a lorry around 4.30 pm and by the time we got through and got home around 5.30 pm ,. the storm began , it only lasted about 2 hrs but was a good un , that one may only have been in a relativly localised area though ,

Danno · 07-08-2008 12:05am

1990 was a fantastic summer, not 89 if I remember correctly. Could be wrong on that though.

irish_bob · 07-08-2008 4:19pm

Danno wrote: »

1990 was a fantastic summer, not 89 if I remember correctly. Could be wrong on that though.

1990 was a fantastic summer as the world cup was on and ireland done well

as regards the weather here , you have it back to front

road_high · 19-04-2009 11:04am

We still talk about a savage thunderstorm around late June 1986, around the time my brother was born. I only very vagyely remember it.
Our phone line at home was hit and phone blasted off the wall! My parents say the lightning was so intense and bright that during the night it was possible to almost count the animals in a neighbouring field.

Also remember that one in August 1990. Was scared sh!!less!

road_high · 26-04-2009 12:40pm

popebenny16 wrote: »

Oh wow, I remember the thunder snowstorm, it was my first one as well, but I didn't know when it was. I was living half way up a tower block in Ballymun at the time and it was very scary. For some reason I remember the sound of trees falling over - don't ask why - could have been a door creaking somewhere in it.

Weirdly enough, I don't remember the 85 storm!!! I do remember the 86 one, though, as it kept us awake all night and there were two hits in our part of the Mun. Scary as hell. I remember how hot an humid it was that evening before it started and looking out at the lightning jumping across the sky.

Must have been some view of it all looking out of one of them!

road_high · 21-06-2009 7:39pm

Anniversary of the '86 storm coming up now. God be with the days.....:cool:

gurramok · 22-06-2009 10:46am

I was 11 at the time in '85 and i'll never forget seeing those menacing clouds at around 5pm at the start of it. Even the first raindrops were huge!!
The hailstones were huge like tennis balls, never to be seen again in this country since then.

It was a truly frightening 24hr event with non-stop thunder and lightening, and never want to experience it again.
The '86 one was a repeat but not as severe, so the '85 one will always be remembered for its violence!!

mike65 · 23-06-2009 7:02pm

Flash flooding in Donegal, Any pix?

billy the squid · 23-06-2009 11:50pm

Am not sure of the conditions which lead to either the 1985 or 1986 storms, so I can't even guess if it would happen again, however I am of the mind that if it can happen once, it can happen twice. but the 86 one is the one I remember most. The day started off sunny (around 0630) and started to cloud over around 0845-0900. the first strike came at around 1000 hrs and after that all hell broke loose.

On the subject of the 80s being the best for extreme weather, I would agree. It seemed to go all boring until the 1997 december storm, which in my opinion was more violent than Hurricane Charley in '86

The 2000s have been worse than the 1990s.

Min · 24-06-2009 10:51pm

It was terrifying and I don't want to experience it again.

We (my father, sister and I) were up the fields bringing in the hay, we were 10 and 11 years old, it was after 4pm.
It came quite suddenly and it was like lightning everywhere in the field, I have never seen lightning as close as that since then and it was extremely close, we ran and got into the tractor for safety, it was terrifying, absolutely frightening. It wasn't a big field but it had several lightning strikes within no time at all.
We got home and we still had electricity, my father went out to bring in the cows to milk. Inside our mother had us all praying the rosary as the lightning raged outside.
He got through that ok but the electricity then went, I think a blessed candle was gotten out then, we went to bed and still it went on.
It was a bad experience.

My uncle had 8 cattle killed by the lightning and I remember at the time it was on the news that the lightning killed a number of people.
We don't want that type of thunderstorm again, way too dangerous and extreme.

road_high · 25-06-2009 6:19pm

Thanks for sharing your experience, fascinating stuff. Imagine it was that intense that there were strikes so close. Is that the 85 or 86 you refer to Min?

peter1892 · 25-06-2009 9:34pm

I can remember the July 1985 storm very well. I'd never experienced a thunderstorm like it (I was 12). It rained all day in Dublin, plenty of activity in the afternoon & evening, but I was woken by a huge bang sometime that night (early hours of the morning). I thought it was great fun! Not everyone would agree of course.

In fact, until the storm in October 2003 I can't remember a thunderstorm that was as bad here (although I have experienced a few big ones abroad).

Min · 26-06-2009 11:28am

mfitzy wrote: »

Thanks for sharing your experience, fascinating stuff. Imagine it was that intense that there were strikes so close. Is that the 85 or 86 you refer to Min?

I can't really remember, it could be '85 and probably was given it was July and probably more likely hay was being brought in as we didn't make hay till July - had to ask my father that one.

pfk-0p · 01-07-2009 2:01pm

i'm too young to remeber that but i remember my parents telling me about it, it sounded like scary stuff, they can recall the day after it finished jehova's witnesses called to door saying the storms were a sign that the rapture was imminent:P

lt_cmdr_worf · 01-07-2009 11:52pm

Wonder what StormVue radar would have been like during that storm....

okioffice84 · 02-07-2009 9:42pm

I remember it too (1986). I was only 6 at the time but was in Skerries on holidays. that day (Saturday) was a scorcher. I've never seen or heard a thunder storm as violent since. Is it my 6 year old's memory or was the weather beautiful again the next day?- As if nothing had happened the night before.
Actually, I'm a bit muddled about the 85/86 storms. I do remember 'the adults' discussing the colour of the lightning (yellow and blue) which they had never seen before

okioffice84 · 02-07-2009 11:04pm

Danno wrote: »

1990 was a fantastic summer, not 89 if I remember correctly. Could be wrong on that though.

Nope it was '89 that was a long hot summer. 1990 was the usual schlock

nlgbbbblth · 02-07-2009 11:09pm

okioffice84 wrote: »

Nope it was '89 that was a long hot summer. 1990 was the usual schlock

yes, 1989 was a hot one. The year I sat the Leaving Cert and saw The Cure in a boiling RDS Simmonscourt on 15 July.
Lots of mascara running.

Best summers that I remember

1976
1983
1984
1989
1995

loup · 03-07-2009 4:03pm

Yes I also remember this well! Our house in Dundrum had its TV aerial hit and it knocked out the electricity, cable,etc. I remember our neighbour across the road telling us she saw a ball of lightning rolling along the roof. All the electric equipment in the house fried. I remember putting a Heaven 17 record on and it had sparks coming out of the needle. My dad was interviewed on radio the next day with I think, Marian Finucane. The fire brigade arrived but really there was no fire, just smoke damage. Have been afraid of thunder and lightning ever since. My overriding memory is that the sky was very green in colour that night, not sure why that would be? Mad night though!

paulhac · 03-07-2009 8:07pm

loup wrote: »

I remember putting a Heaven 17 record on and it had sparks coming out of the needle.

i heard reports of fingers of static electricity crawling up peoples internal walls and I saw what can only be described as bullet holes in peoples hearths and fireplaces where the lightning came down the chimney:eek:

Sage'sMama · 03-07-2009 8:21pm

okioffice84 wrote: »

Nope it was '89 that was a long hot summer. 1990 was the usual schlock

1990 was a great summer just after the world cup no rain for weeks and every day a scorcher

Sea Devils · 03-07-2009 9:43pm

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

Best summers that I remember
1976
1983
1984
1989
1995

I'd put 2006 on your list as well. That was another scorcher iirc

legendal · 09-07-2009 2:15am

This was a bit before my time, but I've been looking up some of the Irish Times's coverage of this from the time itself for a programme I'm working on. Here's what I've found out:

July 26, 1985 paper:

Met Éireann spokesman: "None of us can remember anything like this before, and some us of us have been here 25 years here. It's quite unusual to see this degree of electricity without high rainfall."
The worst affected areas were to the north. Cattle were killed by lightning in some areas. Most of the south and west escaped the worst of the storms.
All Dublin stations suffered temporarty cuts, and Gardaí were inundated with false alarms as security systems were set off all over the city.

July 27, 1985 paper:

Thunder started in north Leinster on Thursday afternoon (July 25)
Thursday was humid and the warm moisture from the ground rose and formed cumulonimbus clouds up to 40,000 feet high.
Heaviest falls of rain in 100 years recorded in parts of Northern Ireland
Severe flooding in Newry and other towns
Hailstones “as large as golf balls” at three locations in the Mourne Mountains
Miss Maddie Lennon received burns to her face after a lightning strike to a tin roof on her farm on the Fermanagh-Cavan border
Tens of thousands were without electricity and telephone services, which returned to normal on Friday night (July 26) after a major emergency repair operation due to severe lightning
Worst affected areas without electricity were Clonmel, Longford, Mullingar, Kilkenny, Carlow and Thurles.
North Leinster and east Munster were the worst affected areas without phone services
DART operated on Friday morning only between Howth Junction and Connolly as power lines were damaged by lightning. Normal service resumed at 12:45pm.
Aer Lingus reported delays at Dublin Airport, due to problems with radar equipment and landing aids
ESB spokesman: “It was the worst electric storm anyone here can remember.”
Homes damaged by lightning and a wooden chalet adjoining Malahide Golf Club was destroyed, but nobody was injured.
Met Éireann: difficult to compare thunderstorms as the only rainfall can be measured, and there was less rain than the 1963 Mount Merrion thunderstorm when 75mm fell in one hour.
Met Éireann: Rainfall in the 12 hours of Thursday night (July 25) varied from 20-55mm.
Temporary postal sorting office in Blackrock, Co. Dublin and Companies Office among places hit by flooding.
Only the western seaboard escaped without severe electricity disruption
Emergency ESB crews were called out for lightning duty at 3am on Friday morning.
Neither the ESB or Telecom Éireann could confirm how many customers were affected.

Also, in June 25th's paper (still 1985), the PA reported that lightning hit Centre Court at Wimbledon. Six pieces of masonry weighing half a pound each fell from 90 feet, narrowly missing spectators. Nobody was injured. The lightning hit a corner of a new £4 million office section of Centre Court, just as play was about to start on the opening day.

shamwari · 10-07-2009 10:25am

Legendal, is the program going to be about that storm?

legendal · 10-07-2009 4:36pm

It's not I'm afraid, it's a programme I'm hoping to do which looks back at the events and music of a particular year, a bit like Reeling in the Years but it'll be fairly different as it'll be for the radio. It's for a volunteer-run station, and I'm in the early stages of research and whatnot at the mo so there's still a chance that it may not get finished! Hopefully that won't happen though.

shamwari · 10-07-2009 9:52pm

Thanks for that Legendal, keep us informed. As for storms and music, how about the storms of June 1986 coinciding with Simple Minds in Croke Park. That night was the stuff of legends!

legendal · 12-07-2009 2:43am

AFAIK Sanctify Yourself was released in 1986, so combining Simple Minds and the storms would be a runner

On-topic: from reading up on the storms and reading the accounts here I can safely say I've never seen the likes. Must have been pretty terrifying for ye alright!

darkman2 · 12-07-2009 2:57am

The chart for that evening shows a breakdown scenario but very humid and wam air. The continental air mixing with the Atlantic - volitile at the best of times but a violent collision here between airmasses

Normally this occurs on the continent but this was a freak event for Ireland and the UK. With upper temps at 15C and the Atlantic cooler regime pushing to break through - the mother of all battles ensued - this was Atlantic v Continental at it's most vigorous. The Atlantic lost in the end and the warm weather continued. The spectacular show was just a sympthom of the Atlantic actually failing to break a continental flow (which it would do 9 times out of 10). This was very unusual.

kelle · 16-07-2009 6:37am

I remember that evening in 1985 so well! We thought the windows of our house were going to shatter, it sounded like somebody was pounding them with a sledgehammer! And a telephone pole was knocked down in our field. And it lasted throughout the night - we all ended up in bed beside our poor parents!

jptk · 16-07-2009 9:18pm

Ive been sitting on the edge of my seat the last couple of weeks waiting for thunder and lightning and I'm losing hope! I'm in Dublin city center and I am fascinated with thunder and lighting. I have vague memories of a very bad lightning storm in the early 90's. I remember it was early in the morning and I was getting ready for school. The thunder was unbelievably loud it was terrifying.

hawkmoon269 · 19-07-2009 1:25am

I remember it very well. It seemed to go on for hours. The thunder claps were by far the loudest and longest I have ever heard.

Great fun, though not for the inhabitants of a house in a road near us that we discovered the following morning was actually struck by lightning and sustained significant damage, though no-one was injured.

EORaghallaigh · 20-07-2009 10:54pm

i remember this night vividly...

i was only a pup (7) but i remember getting courage to look out my window and seeing the most amazing lightning ever - i have never seen anything like it since.

defined fork lightning started to my east and triggered a chain of fork lighting strikes for about 10 miles - it was like a mexican wave of the most amazing fork lightning ever over about 2 seconds (at least 20 strikes)...

why cant lightning be like it was back then - boo!

we must be due a good supercell soon!

Severe Thunderstorm July 25th/26th 1985

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